After work in the afternoon, Bai Sheng deliberately returned home late and instructed all five of them not to wipe off their lipstick. She even reapplied the color for them, wanting to see everyone's reaction to them wearing lipstick.
Lu Hao felt that she looked old and ugly with lipstick on, like a bald man trying to wear a flower. She was quite embarrassed to display herself in front of everyone.
However, upon hearing her younger sister-in-law sternly say it was a market test, she reluctantly forced herself not to wipe it off.
Before dinner, everyone in the household had returned, and the Imperial King and others also arrived right on time.
As everyone had just sat down, Bai Sheng, accompanied by the five women, walked through the door.
When everyone looked up at them, they were all stunned.
Granny Zhong, Ah Zhong, exclaimed first, "My heavens, six fairies descending to earth!"
Bai Sheng and the other five burst into laughter.
Ma San, holding Xiao Tianyou, cried out, "My dear mother, how did my little Sweetie become so beautiful!"
Everyone felt so nauseated that their shoulders shivered.
Liu Shi glared playfully at Ma San, but the corners of her mouth turned up even wider.
Tian Guihua immediately stepped forward, "Eldest Madam, you are all too beautiful, with lips as red as cinnabar and teeth as white as jade!"
Bai Sheng took Tian Guihua's hand and smiled, "When the lipstick is mass-produced, I'll give you a stick, Sister Guihua!"
"Oh, then my old face will also turn into that of a little fairy!" Tian Guihua cackled.
Mi and Mian exchanged glances, their eyes also revealing a hint of longing.
Bai Sheng looked at them and said loudly, "Mi and Mian have them too, and Ah Wu and Ah Zhong also have them."
Mi and Mian rejoiced inwardly.
Ah Wu and Ah Zhong were also a little expectant. If wearing lipstick could make them twenty years younger, it would be worth it.
Hu Da Niu looked at Yang Shi, scratching the back of his head, and kept grinning foolishly.
Bai Jing felt a pair of burning eyes staring at her face, and she couldn't help but shrink back.
Ji Chenghe realized his gaffe and coughed lightly, feigning to retract his gaze, but his peripheral vision continued to drift towards Bai Jing without restraint.
Lu Ye stared at Bai Sheng absentmindedly, contemplating that he must have a good taste of the crimson hue on his beloved's lips tonight.
The Imperial King also looked at Bai Sheng, his expression somewhat dazed. He never imagined that the dark-skinned girl would look so beautiful with such vibrant lipstick.
Huang Gou Sheng's gaze fell on Lu Hao for a moment, and he was momentarily lost in thought.
In fact, Lu Hao had very good features, but she had been worn down too much, making her appear aged. If he could help them, mother and daughter, in the future, he would. Once Lu Hao had recovered, she might even find a good match.
However, she truly looked beautiful with the lipstick on today.
Man Man ran to Lu Hao and hugged her leg, shyly tilting her small face up and smiling at her.
Although Man Man didn't speak, Lu Hao knew that her daughter had noticed the significant difference in her today.
Bai Sheng and the five women exchanged glances and couldn't help but laugh.
A single lipstick could indeed save a face.
The next day.
Bai Sheng had the five women personally make lipstick. Although the process was a bit chaotic, everyone successfully made lipstick in the end.
By remembering the general methods and processes, and with diligent practice, more exploration, and summarizing experiences, they could all become lipstick masters.
Next were the aloe vera masks and face creams.
The aloe vera mask was very simple: cut the aloe vera into segments, soak them in clean water for fifteen minutes, then use a spoon to scrape off the gel from the aloe vera, filter out the sticky gel, add natural extracts of rose, osmanthus, and other fragrances, and finally store them in porcelain jars.
Baihua Villa in the capital cultivated richly scented fresh flowers, not only for making perfumes but also to provide raw materials for cosmetics and skincare products.
Finally, they also made aloe vera moisturizing cream and rouge. Bai Sheng operated first, and then the five women practiced operating themselves.
It took the five women about ten days to become proficient in the production of skincare products and cosmetics.
The freshness and shelf life of skincare products were very important. Bai Sheng specifically refined a pure natural preservative in the alchemy room, using perilla, lemon, and a Chinese herbal medicine called *wo wo cao*.
Adding the preservative could protect the skincare products from spoilage for three months.
Next was the method for making sanitary napkins. All five women had to learn it because their future tasks were not fixed; if someone was absent, others could step in at any time.
One of the raw materials for sanitary napkins was cotton, but cotton's absorbency was not very strong. Bai Sheng took advantage of this by spreading out the cotton to create a thin base layer to prevent leakage.
Another raw material was discovered by Bai Sheng herself, namely banana trees.
Once, a male horse in the space went into heat and ran out of the paddock, accidentally breaking a banana tree.
Bai Sheng noticed the numerous sticky white fibers in the banana tree's trunk and had a sudden inspiration. Through repeated experiments, she finally managed to extract the sticky fibers from the banana tree by pressing them.
After extraction, the fibers were cleaned to remove the sticky substances, and then dried in the sun.
After drying, the fibers were cut into one-inch segments, then soaked in a special medicinal solution to soften the fiber segments to be as fluffy as cotton.
With the sanitary napkin mold ready, a thin cotton base was laid first, and then the banana tree fiber fluff was pressed into the mold to form the absorbent cotton of the sanitary napkin.
Once the absorbent cotton was made, it was covered and wrapped with plant fiber paper, and then the edges were stitched. A sanitary napkin was thus completed.
Since there was no non-setting adhesive, Bai Sheng decided to innovate with underwear. She specially designed a line of menstrual underwear that could fix the sanitary napkin in place without shifting.
This way, when customers bought sanitary napkins for the first time, it was best for them to also buy the menstrual underwear.
It took about half a month for Du Min and the other four women to become thoroughly familiar with all the raw materials, production methods, processes, and packaging for all the products.
Next, various departments began to recruit workers. The initial plan was to hire 120 people: 80 for the skincare group and 40 for the sanitary napkin group.
Two long tables were set up on the open ground in front of the workshop gate, with three people, Yang Shi and two others, at one table, and Du Min and Liu Shi at the other.
Long queues of job applicants stood in front of the tables. Most of them were women, with a few men interspersed.
The "Hong Fen Jia Ren" workshop offered a monthly wage of 800 *wen*, along with 4 days of leave and a complimentary lunch. Such benefits were unheard of in the surrounding villages, so many men also wanted to try their luck.
Although Bai Sheng officially requested that women be prioritized, she did not absolutely exclude men. After all, as long as the work was done well, it didn't matter if the worker was male or female.
In the cosmetics group, Yang Shi and Lu Hao were responsible for observing and interviewing applicants, while Bai Jing was responsible for recording.
In the sanitary napkin group, Liu Shi was responsible for observing and interviewing, and Du Min was responsible for recording.
Lu Ye was originally working on the construction of the Ghost Shadow Pavilion base. Due to the large number of external personnel on recruitment day, he left the base to Feng Pingyuan and specifically came to protect Bai Sheng.
Bai Sheng also called all the household servants to help maintain discipline, serve tea and water, guide people, lead tours, and so on.
The couple sat behind the recruitment tables, their handsome and beautiful appearance attracting many gazes.
Lu Hao sat at the recruitment table, her palms sweating nervously. At first, her voice trembled when she asked about the basic information of the applicants. However, she forced herself to calm down and tried to learn from Sister Yang's way of questioning and her composed demeanor. Gradually, she became adept at handling the situation.
Seeing so many people looking at her with respectful, envious, and fawning eyes, she gradually felt a sense of pride, and her confidence grew steadily.